PRINT THIS PAGE Weekly Deals and Funds Roundup: 2 April 200802/04/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
A selection of the latest deals and funds news from across the globe - essential reading for those who need to keep up-to-date with the industry's key developments. DEALS
Private equity firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has led a $15m Series B financing round of California-based Breathe Technologies. Breath Technologies develops patient-friendly breathing devices that aide people with cystic fibrosis and influenza. KPCB recently launched a $100m fund for Apple, focused on funding new products related to the iPhone and iPod touch platforms.
Paris-headquartered private equity firm AtriA Capital Partners has sold its majority stake in CTN Group to Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. CTN Group is a pan-European supplier of display products used in trade and fair shows. AtriA invests in growing mid-cap companies with approximately €600m under management.
UK private equity firm ISIS Equity Partners has made an investment in mechanical support business Carnell Support Services. Founded in 1992, Carnell provides mechanical support to highway services and communication services. ISIS invests in funds on behalf of both institutional and retail clients.
New York-based private equity firm Spencer Trask has sold software supplier Aperture for an undisclosed amount. Aperture specialises in managing data software centres and has offices in the US, UK and Austria. Spencer Trask invests on a deal-by-deal basis rather than through funds.
Energy-focused private equity firm Riverstone Holdings has invested an undisclosed amount in Canadian exploration and production companyShelter Bay Energy. Shelter Bay plans to raise CAN$625m with the help of investors, including Kelso & Company, Crescent Point Energy Trust, Goldman Sachs and Trafelet & Company. New York-based Riverstone focuses on buy-outs and growth capital investments in mid and upper-market companies in the power, oilfield services and renewable sectors of the energy industry.
The Riverside Company has acquired medical supplier Summit Medical from UK mid-market private equity firm Graphite Capital for £36m. Summit Medical distributes medical devices focusing on orthopaedics and infection control. Graphite invested in the business in 2001, leading a £17m BIMBO.
The Riverside Company has acquired a majority interest in Advanced Education Systems dba Training Pro. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Training Pro is a mortgage training institution that offers online, in-person and home-study classes. Riverside focuses on the smaller end of the mid-market, particularly in LBOs.
Asia-focused private equity firm Tano Capital has acquired a stake in ICOMM Telecommunications for $12.45m. Indian telecommunication company ICOMM provides manufacturing and solutions for telecom infrastructures and telecom equipment. Tano Capital is an alternative asset management firm that invests in growing private companies in China and India. The firm operates out of offices in Mumbai, Shanghai, Taipei, Tianjin, Mauritius, Vietnam and San Mateo.
US private investment firm Sun Capital Partners has acquired a controlling 51 per cent interest in German mail order company Neckermann. Financial terms were not disclosed. Neckermann's parent company Arcandor will maintain a 49 per cent interest in the business. Sun Capital focuses on LBOs, equity, debt and other investments.
Swiss-based alternative asset manager Partners Group, through its Partners Group Global Opportunities, has made a €4.4m mezzanine investment in Swedish security firm Securitas Direct alongside lead investor EQT V Partners. PGGO trades on the Alternative Investment Market and provides public market investors access to direct private equity and private debt investments.
UK private equity firm NBGI Private Equity has exited its investment in commercial heating business Hamworthy Heating through its sale to French engineering conglomerate Atlantic. Financial terms were not disclosed, though the deal was reported to worth around £35m, according to sources close to the deal. The sale generated a return of six times the original investment for NBGI, with an IRR of 38 per cent, according to the firm. NBGIPE led a £11.2m buy-out of Hamworthy in January 2002.
Nordic private equity firm Eqvitec Partners and government-owned investment firm Finnish Industry Investment have acquired a majority stake in Scaninter Nokia. Financial terms were not disclosed. Scaninter Nokia designs, manufactures and sells industrial hoists and mast climbing work platforms. The company had revenues of €28m in 2007, employing some 320 people. Earlier this month Eqvitec agreed to invest an undisclosed sum in Norwegian software business KSD Software Norway.
Private equity firm JMI Equity has made an undisclosed investment in online advertising network Undertone Networks. New-York-headquartered Undertone manages and executes online advertising campaigns. Founded in 1992, JMI Equity has $1.3bn of capital under management. The firm primarily invests in growing business and software services.
Renewable energy investment firm Good Energies has led a second round of financing of $20m in Toronto-based 6N Silicon. 6N is a supplier of true grade silicon used in solar panels. Good Energies seeks to invest in companies that are guided by the 3-P-principle (planet-people-profit). The firm has offices in London, New York, Canada, Washington DC and Switzerland.
Norwegian private equity firm HitecVision has acquired a 60 per cent stake in Hitec Products Drilling, a provider of advanced, customised drilling solutions. Financial details were not disclosed. Established in 2004, Hitec Products Drilling provides engineering services, software solutions and integration systems to the well and drilling industry. Hitec Vision invests in the oil and gas sectors. The investment comes from its Hitec Vision V fund.
Private equity firm Palmfund together with Latin America Legal Publishing Group, through its partnership Legal Publishing Netherlands Coöperatie, has acquired LexisNexis' local legal, tax and regulatory publishing operations in Argentina, Chile and Mexico for an undisclosed amount. Palmfund primarily invests in emerging markets, principally in Latin America. The firm has offices in New York, Santo Domingo and Colombia.
Private equity firm Cordjia has led a $27m investment in marketing intelligence company GOLIATH Solutions. Other investors included Walnut Group and private investors. The company was founded in 2001 and tracks consumer response to in-store promotional displays, merchandising, and signs. Delaware, US-based Cordjia invest in mid-market companies that are process-oriented and reliant on people interfacing with technology. Walnut Group primarily invests in a broad range of industry sectors that focus on retail and consumer products and services.
Private equity firm Balderton Capital has invested an undisclosed amount in digital developer, Metaversum. With offices in Kiev and Berlin, Metaversum develops and operates the 3D online community Twinity which combines real world and virtual elements. London-based Balderton recently sold social networking site, Bebo, to AOL.
21 Centrale Partners and Philippe Ligier have reached an exclusivity agreement to acquire Automobiles Ligier and Microcar. Financial terms were not disclosed. The agreements were reached through an investment vehicle managed by 21 Centrale Partners and in association with Philippe Ligier. 21 Centrale Partners is a private equity firm that is dedicated to growth buy-outs in the French mid-market. Philippe Ligier is the son of Guy Ligier, founder of Automobiles Ligier.
Private equity firms Quaker BioVentures and Bessemer Venture Partners have led a round of Series D financing worth $35m in biopharmaceutical company Transave. Transave develops inhaled pharmaceuticals for site-specific treatments of serious lung diseases. Philadelphia-based Quaker BioVentures invests solely in life science companies. Founded in 1911, Bessemer Venture Partners has offices in India, Israel, Shanghai and the US. TVM Capital, Prospect Venture Partners, Fidelity Biosciences, Forbion Capital Partners and Easton Capital also participated in the financing.
Atlanta, US-based private equity firm Arcapita has sold home healthcare provider TLC Healthcare Services for $395m to publicly traded Amedisys. New York-based TLC provides nursing services including behavioural healthcare, cardiac care, disease management and family healthcare counseling. Arcapita was founded in 1997 and seeks equity investments worth $100m and $300m. The firm recently acquired PODS, a provider of portable storage and moving solutions.
Intel Corporation, STMicroelectronics and private equity investors Francisco Partners have finalised and closed transaction to create a new semiconductor company Numonyx B.V. Numonyx will design and develop non-volatile memory solutions. STMicroelectronics acquired a 48.6 per cent share, Francisco Partners acquired a 6.3 per cent share, and Intel has acquired a 45.1 per cent ownership in the newly formed company. Financial terms were not disclosed. Francisco Partners is focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services. The firm has offices in San Francisco and London.
Connecticut, US-based Stone Point Capital has acquired a minority interest in field service company Cyprexx Services. Financial details were not disclosed. Cyprexx Services provides property preservation, inspection and repair services to residential mortgage lenders and real estate owned asset management firms. The transaction came from Stone Point Capital's Trident IV fund. To date, Stone Point Capital has raised approximately $10bn in capital for investments in the insurance and financial services industries.
Mid-market private equity firm Parthenon Capital has invested in health club advertiser Captive Media. Financial details were not disclosed. Captive Media provides health club advertising and marketing. Parthenon is based out of Boston and San Francisco and specialises in investing in growth companies in service industries. Parthenon recently partnered with Century Capital to form Ascension Insurance.
Franklin Templeton's private equity arm Darby Overseas Investments has invested $25m in India-based Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company through its Darby Asia Mezzanine Fund II. Coffee Day operates across the coffee value chain from procurement and processing to retailing. The funds will be used in expanding Coffee Day's presence across India and in parts of Europe. Darby provides mezzanine products to emerging market regions, including Latin America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe.
UK private equity firm Iceni Capital has funded a secured MBO of specialist independent lift contractor Apollo Lifts. Apollo Lifts is a provider of lift services. In 2004, Apollo completed the first stage of its original MBO, which centred on the creation and expansion of a northern operations centre. Iceni Capital is an operationally focused buy-out firm targeting UK companies with enterprise values below £25m within the healthcare, business and IT services sectors.
Mid-market investor Close Growth Capital has sold UK-based Allen & Heath to D&M Holdings. The terms of the transaction were undisclosed. Allen & Heath designs and manufactures audio mixing consoles for professional sound engineers, live sound installations and DJs. D&M is an operating company which provides management and distribution platforms for consumer, automotive, commercial and professional audio and video businesses. CGC provides equity and debt funding to UK mid-market companies through a single source approach which includes MBOs, MBIs, growth capital and secondary buy-outs.
Mid-market investor Inflexion Private Equity has exited its investment in Tekton Group in a sale to Sage UK Limited for £21m. In 15 months, Inflexion made a return of 2 times on its original £4.6m investment and an IRR of 66 per cent, according to a statement. Manchester-based Tekton provides enterprise resource planning software to the UK construction industry. Inflexion invests in proven businesses operating in growth environments situated at the lower end of the UK mid-market. Its most recent investment is the buyout of Pims Group, a waste water services company.
Milestone Capital Partners has completed a secondary MBO of self-serve gourmet coffee provider Coffee Nation. The financial terms of the deal were undisclosed. Coffee nation was founded in 1999 to capitalize on consumer demand for premium quality, gourmet coffee. Primary Capital provided the initial investment of £4m in 2000. Milestone led the transaction and provided the equity funding for the deal, while RBS provided the senior debt. Investec provided the mezzanine finance in the deal. Milestone is an independent private equity fund which invests mainly in the UK and France.
Private equity firm Catterton Partners has invested $18m of growth capital in ready-to-drink iced teas producer Sweet Leaf Tea. The investment will be used by Sweet Leaf Tea to increase its marketing efforts and expand its national distribution, according to a statement. US-based Catterton focuses on the consumer industry including the food and beverage, retail and restaurants, consumer products and services and media and marketing services sectors.
Private investment firm Pennington Allen Capital Partners has completed its investment in Oklahoma, US-based Mathey Investments, the parent corporation of Mathey Dearman and CIA Mathey Italiana. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Mathey develops, manufactures and markets products for the pipeline and welding industry. As part of the deal, Don Lockhart will remain a significant owner of Mathey and continue to serve as CEO. Pennington targets the acquisition of manufacturing, distribution and business service companies.
FUNDS
Investment bank Credit Suisse has comitted $300m to New Jersey-based private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners. Hudson focuses on investing in companies that develop renewable power, alternative fuels and energy storage. As part of the transaction, John Cavalier, head of Credit Suisse's renewable energy investment banking practice, will join Hudson as a partner.
Copyright © 2008 AltAssets
|
